Top Ten Tuesday: Super Easy Book Party Ideas

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Today, we’re talking about book-themed parties. Since we’re in a pandemic, it’s not the best time for a party, but we can dream, right? Here are 10 fun ideas to spice up your next book club meeting or bookish birthday.

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Super Easy Ideas For Book Parties

1. Moaning Myrtle haunts your toilet. Moaning Myrtle is a ghost who hunts the girls’ bathroom at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series. She seems to spend most of her time crying inside a toilet. Now she can haunt your toilet at home! Print out a photo of her and tape it on or near your toilet.

2. This one makes you taller; this one makes you smaller. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, food does strange things to a person’s body. Alice grows bigger or smaller depending on what she eats or drinks. For an Alice party, use a fancy font to make labels that say “Eat Me” or “Drink Me.” Set the labels near the snacks, or use a ribbon to tie them to drink bottles.

3. Capitol fashion. The characters in The Hunger Games have unusual ideas about fashion. If you’re having a Halloween party (or just want to see the strangest clothes your friends have in their closets), consider throwing a Capitol costume party. Who wouldn’t want to drink champagne while wearing all the makeup they own?

4. Delicious Dr. Seuss plants. This one is fun for kids. All you need are Twizzlers and cotton candy. Stick a small hunk of cotton candy on one end of each Twizzler. Drop the other end of the Twizzler into a cup. Then you’ll have a sugary bouquet of Dr. Seuss Truffula Trees.

5. The Cat (or the beer) In The Hat. Another simple Dr. Seuss idea. For this one, you need red plastic cups and white tape. Use the tape to make white stripes on the cups. The project should end up looking like the Cat’s classic striped hat. You can use the cups for drinks, or fill them with Rainbow Goldfish crackers. (One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.)

6. Sherlock Holmes mystery footprints. If you’ve read Sherlock Holmes, then you’ll know that he’s constantly searching crime scenes for footprints. Now you can turn your driveway or sidewalk into a crime scene! You’ll need many, many sheets of black paper. Trace your feet (or shoes) on each sheet of paper and cut them out. Or, you can find footprints online, print them on regular printer paper, and cut them out. Arrange your paper footprints on your sidewalk so they look like they’re leading to your front door. If it’s windy, you can put a circle of duct tape on the underside of each footprint to stick it to the pavement. Guests will follow the mystery footprints to your party.

7. The Roaring 20s. It’s the 20s again! That means it’s a perfect time to have a Great Gatsby party. (Hopefully your party is less angst-filled than the ones in the book.) Put a green lightbulb in your porch light and blast the jazz music.

8. Farm work (without the work). A lot of classic children’s books, such as Bridge to Terabithia and Little House on the Prairie take place on farms. The young characters are often charged with milking the family’s cows. If you don’t have cows, don’t worry! Use your imagination. Instead of putting party favors in bags, give each kid an itty bitty metal milk bucket. Let them fill it with malted milk balls and take it home.

9. A very bookish dinner party. Did you know that there are literature themed cookbooks? You can actually make the foods that you read about in your favorite stories. If you love fantasy novels, check out The Wizard’s Cookbook and The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. If you like classics, there’s The Book Lover’s Cookbook.

10. Use actual books as decorations! The books might get beat up during a party, so maybe pick up some thrift store books instead of using ones from your personal collection. A stack of large books can be used as a pedestal for a vase of flowers or a bowl of gummy bookworms. Your guests can take the books home when the party is over.

Have you ever hosted a book party? What worked for you?